LANCASTER, CORNELIUS GRANBERY

LANCASTER, CORNELIUS GRANBERY (1863–1947). Cornelius Granbery Lancaster, architect, was born in Marshall, Texas, on March 4, 1863. He studied architecture at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (later Texas A&M University) from 1892 to 1895 but did not receive a degree. Lancaster designed a number of structures that have been designated registered Texas historic landmarks by the Texas Historical Commission. They include the Ginocchio Hotel (1898), the Weisman-Hirsch Home (1901), and the Harrison County Courthouse (1900), designed by J. Riely Gordon, but with construction supervised by Lancaster, who also supervised its renovation in 1914 and 1917. Lancaster designed high school buildings for Henderson (1916), Marshall (1917), Overton (1916), Waskom (1924), Mineola (1924), Mineral Wells (1913), and Avinger (1935), in addition to a number of elementary schools in East Texas. Municipal and commercial buildings in Marshall designed by Lancaster include the city hall (1910) and its replacement (1922, after a fire burned the 1910 structure), Joe Weisman and Company, Marshall Mill and Elevator Company, the Hawley Building, the Elks Building, the Coca-Cola bottling plant (1920) and Temple Moses Montefiore (1900, razed 1973). Lancaster also designed banks and commercial buildings in Jefferson, Pittsburg, Henderson, and Carthage. The Great Depression destroyed his business, and he went to work in 1937 as a supervisor for the Work Projects Administration. Lancaster died on December 1, 1947, and is buried in Marshall.